A Financial look at the Change in NFL Lineups Thru Week 11

With injuries, suspension, trade, & release transaction in constant motion, NFL lineups have a tendency to change plenty through 11 weeks of a season. We’ve taken a look at the financial impact of these changes based on the starting lineups for each team through 11 weeks (we track those lineups here).

In essence, and as you might expect, all but 3 teams have a starting lineup worth less cap $ than they had to start the year. The Rams, Broncos, & Titans have managed to add a few cap dollars to their starting lineup over the course of 11 weeks – with the Rams figure largely due to Aaron Donald’s ending of his holdout for Week 2.

The Bills have made significant moves (even before Week 1), including trading Marcell Dareus to the Jaguars, acquiring an inexpensive Kelvin Benjamin, and benching starting QB Tyrod Taylor. Without these moves, the Bills financial lineup would have had minimal change, as Buffalo holds the fewest cumulative cap $ allocated to players on injured reserve thus far.

Five teams have dropped over $20M in offensive starting cap dollars, led by the Cardinals, Bills, and Packers – all 3 of which have changed QBs due to injury or benching. Four teams have identical defensive starting cap totals from Week 1, while the 49ers & Texans have lost over $20M in 11 weeks. In terms of injured reserve, 6 teams have spent north of $20M to their IR list, led by the Dolphins at $30.2M. The Steelers, Cowboys, and Bills have allocated less than $2M each to their injury list.

On average, NFL lineups have changed just over $14M in 11 weeks, and teams have allocated just north of $13M to their injured reserve list – figures that are expected to rise sharply over the remaining 6 weeks.